If flow logic
Summarize
Summary of If flow logic
If flow logic in ServiceNow enables you to selectively execute one or more actions only when specified conditions based on the current record are met. This is useful for creating flows that react dynamically, such as triggering actions only if a task’s state, urgency, or other field values meet certain criteria. Actions or subflows are placed inside the If flow logic, and they run only if the defined conditions evaluate to true.
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Nested If flow logic blocks can be used by adding child If blocks within the Then branch of a parent If block, allowing for more granular conditional branching.
Inputs and Usage
- Condition label: A descriptive label for the condition branch to improve readability.
- Condition: The criteria that determine when the Then branch actions run.
Note that If flow logic does not produce outputs directly.
Practical Example
For instance, you can configure an If flow logic to perform an action only when an incident has a high urgency. The flow’s execution details provide information on state, start time, runtime, and variable values, helping you verify whether conditions were met during execution.
Best Practices
- Avoid using data pill values set inside a Then branch outside that branch: Data pill values set inside a Then branch are only available to actions within the same branch. Accessing them outside results in null values.
- Group similar condition types: To prevent unexpected results, group matching condition types (e.g., all OR conditions or all AND conditions) for the same field into separate condition sets.
- Replace multiple similar If flow logic blocks with Make a decision flow logic: Instead of duplicating If blocks that differ only by conditions, use a decision table to determine outcomes like assignment groups based on record values, simplifying the flow and improving maintainability.
Related Concepts
If flow logic is part of a broader set of flow logic tools in ServiceNow, including:
- Make a decision flow logic
- Assign subflow outputs flow logic
- Call a workflow flow logic
- Do the following until flow logic
- Do the following in parallel flow logic
- Dynamic flows flow logic
- End Flow flow logic
- For Each flow logic
- Set Flow Variables flow logic
- Try flow logic
- Wait for a duration flow logic
These related flow logic blocks extend the power and flexibility of ServiceNow flows.
Selectively apply one or more actions only when a list of conditions is met.
Nested If flow logic blocks
You can add a child If flow logic block to a parent If flow logic block. Add the child If flow logic block to the Then branch of the parent flow logic block.
Inputs
| Input | Description |
|---|---|
| Condition label | Descriptive label for the conditions of branch. A label can be easier to read than a long or complex condition data pill value. |
| Condition | Conditions under which the branch runs. The flow only runs the contents of the Then branch when the conditions evaluate to true. |
Outputs
This flow logic has no outputs.
Perform an action on if an incident has a high urgency
In this example, the action is triggered when the incident record has a high urgency value.
Execution details
- The header shows the state, start time, and runtime for the flow logic.
- The Configuration Details section shows the details about the variables that are used by the flow, including the type, configuration, and runtime values for each variable. Use the condition variable to see if the branch conditions were met.
General guidelines
Use these general guidelines to create effective If flow logic blocks.
- Avoid referring to data pill values outside of the Then branch
- When you set a data pill value from inside a Then branch of If flow logic, the data pill value is only available to other actions in the same branch. Referencing a data pill value that was set inside a Then branch from outside of the flow logic branch produces a null value.
- Group matching condition types in their own condition sets
- Mixing conditions of different types for the same field values can produce unexpected results. For example, adding an AND condition to a group of multiple OR conditions for an incident short description can produce a
situation where the If condition never evaluates to true. Use condition groups to group similar condition types for the same field. For example, group all OR conditions for an incident short description in one condition
set and group all AND conditions for an incident short description in another condition set.
Figure 2. Example of grouping matching conditions into condition sets - Replace multiple If flow logic blocks with a Make a decision flow logic block
- Rather than create duplicate If flow logic blocks that only vary by their conditions, use a decision table to generate an answer. For example, suppose you want to use the incident category to set the assignment group of
an incident task record. Rather than create a duplicate If flow logic block for each category value, use the Make a decision flow logic to provide an answer for the assignment group.
Here is an example flow that uses three If flow logic blocks that each create an incident task record. The only difference between the If flow logic blocks are the conditions of the incident category.
Figure 3. Example of multiple If flow logic blocks that do the same action Here is an example flow that uses a single Make a decision flow logic block to determine the incident task assignment group from the incident category. The Create task action uses the output of the decision as an input.
Figure 4. Example of replacing multiple If flow logic blocks with a decision Here is an example decision table that uses incident record values as an input. The Conditions column consists of two incident category values. The results column consists of the assignment group to use for each condition value.
Figure 5. Example decision table Get Assignment Group from Category